Campus

Focus on the environment and health: Young researchers inspire with project ideas on societal challenges

The Audimax has never been as full as it was this year for the regional competition of Jugend forscht at the TU Ilmenau: 120 children and young people presented 50 research projects on a wide range of scientific issues to a jury of experts. The focus was on topics related to climate protection, energy efficiency, sustainability and health - also for Ronja and Lea from the 11th grade of the Goetheschule Ilmenau.

TU Ilmenau/Dino Junski
120 young people took part in the regional competition "Jugend forscht" 2023 at the TU Ilmenau

"We were constantly bothered by the noise in our classroom, but we kept asking ourselves ourselves: Is it only us who feel this way, or can the increased noise pollution also be proven by objective measures?" Ronja Hollatz explains the idea behind the research project with which the 16-year-old and her 17-year-old classmate Lea Gaurun entered the Jugend forscht competition at TU Ilmenau.

An exciting idea, however, is not enough to qualify for one of the first places in the Young Researchers Competition: Independence and creativity are also assessed, as well as the quality of the scientific work overall, identification with the topic and, last but not least, the presentation on the day of the competition. The two students were supported by their physics teachers and by Dr. Sandra Brix from Fraunhofer IDMT: "On her recommendation, we first looked for sources that showed what values we had to pay attention to in order to measure the background noise in the classroom," Lea explains. The students also wanted to have a comparative value, so on two days each, at different times of the day, they measured not only the noise levels of the 11th graders in their school building, but also those of the 6th graders in another building. The two were surprised by the results of the measurements: "We had expected that the noise pollution would be different, but we would not have thought how strong the noise pollution would be for the students in the 6th grades - 10 decibels more than in the 11th grades - even during silent work times. Also we were suprised to find out how significantly the reverberation times lay above the tolerance range.

Their methodical approach and commitment paid off: At the end of an exciting day of competition in Ilmenau, the young scientists were not only able to receive the special prize from the City of Ilmenau from Mayor Daniel Schultheiß and the special prize from Fraunhofer IDMT for their "Acoustic Investigations in the Classroom", but were also delighted to win 1st prize in the "Jugend forscht" physics category. The two of them would now like to discuss the topic of noise pollution and sound absorption with their teachers and the school administration as well in the near future.

Two other projects were awarded 1st prizes as well: In the mathematics/computer science category the project "Advantages on different field sizes in the strategy game "Dodgem"" by Jos Constantin Heinemann, a student at the Goetheschule Ilmenau, landed in first place, whereas the "Dementia Web App - a web app that revolutionizes nursing homes" by Vivien Zeihs, a student at the Albert-Schweitzer-Gymnasium Ruhla received 1st prize in the working world category. In addition, she was awarded the prize of the equal opportunities office of the TU Ilmenau and can thus participate in the summer university for high school students at the TU Ilmenau. The jury was particularly impressed by her high level of personal commitment and the very good documentation.

Focus on sustainability and health issues

"It was very exciting to see how many children and young people of different ages dealt with sustainability and health topics this year," Jenny Gramsch from the University's Student Research Center reports: from the "Implementation of an Adaptive Environmental Service" and the "Sustainable Potato Plate", awarded with the Special Prize "Resource Efficiency" of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, to the question "How high is the CO2 footprint in the 8th grades? Can it be improved in 6 weeks?", awarded with the special prize "Energy Turnaround & Climate Protection" of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection, to "Effective use of electricity in the household", "Pumping water without electricity - experiments with the water ram" and the project "3D cell culture - an alternative to animal testing?". Sophie Grützmacher, also a student at Goetheschule Ilmenau, received the 1st prize from the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers and the Special Prize for "Environmental Technology" from the German Federal Environmental Foundation for her particularly successful and committed work on this issue. "You convinced us above all with your passion," the jury said in its statement, "and we wish that with your biological interest you might actually contribute to the abolishment of animal testing someday."

As the first-place winner in the category, the 18-year-old has qualified for the state competition "Jugend forscht" on March 31 in Jena, along with Ronja and Lea, Vivien and Jos. The grand national final will then be held in Bremen from May 18 to 21. Until then, the young people have the opportunity to hone their presentation and attend a coaching workshop at the Student Research Center in Gotha.

The next competition in sight

But, as the saying goes: After the competition is before the competition, and so Lea Gaurun already has her sights firmly set on next year's Jugend forscht competition: For this, she has chosen a new exciting topic, acetylsalicylic acid, or ASA for short, also known as aspirin. She wants to investigate the effects of taking ASA on health: "Few people know that taking aspirin under certain conditions can also have negative effects on their health, for example on the kidneys," the 17-year-old explains her motivation. That's why she is working on developing a self-test for home use that would make it easy to check the condition of the kidneys: "So that you could weigh the pros and cons before taking the drug: Should I really take aspirin or would I rather consult my doctor again?"

In order to be ready to present her project, Lea will certainly do one or two extra (school) hours again this time: "What you have all learned here today is a somewhat different definition of a very current social keyword, work-life balance," Stefan Sinznger, Vice President for Research and Young Scientists told the young scientists on the day of the competition: "You have experienced that things can be pursued with lots and lots of energy and enthusiasm even in a school or professional context. And you have learned that curiosity about scientific topics, the joy and drive that can be found in exciting questions, can certainly also be interpreted as a piece of life. Stay tuned! We need you - young scientists who can help address and solve society's challenges."

About "Youth research

This year, the nationwide "Jugend forscht - Schüler experimentieren" competition is being held simultaneously throughout Germany under the motto "Make ideas big". The competition is designed to encourage children, teenagers and young adults to immerse themselves in the exciting world of research and science. Children and young people from high schools in Ruhla, Neudietendorf and Ilmenau took part in the West Thuringia regional competition - schoolchildren aged 10 to 14 in the "Schüler experimentieren" competition for young scientists and teenagers and young adults aged 15 to 21 in "Jugend forscht".

Contact

Jenny Gramsch

Student Research Center at TU Ilmenau